How ROCeteer’s Kimberly Guiry and Heather Wilde Launch Women into Bigger Galaxies than They Dreamed Possible

If finding your inner entrepreneur and balancing her with the rest of your life sounds as likely as locating a needle in a haystack or stumbling upon a unicorn, that is only because you haven’t met the dynamic women at ROCeteer yet. It isn’t often that I get to interview two smart and enthusiastic executive women from the same company, but I got just such a treat with Heather Wilde, CTO, and Kimberly Guiry, CMO, of ROCeteer. ROCeteer‘s purpose is to “unleash the potential within entrepreneurial ecosystems to transcend awesome.”  In other words, they help launch you and your company into a galaxy of goodness.

Originally created to offer support to the Las Vegas downtown project spearheaded by Zappos’ Tony Hsieh, ROCeteer supports the development of ecosystems within Las Vegas. Their success at increasing return on collisions is increasingly catching the attention of ecosystems outside of Vegas, leading to a new philosophy that what happens in Vegas doesn’t need to stay in Vegas. The ROCeteer team including Wilde and Guiry share a collective, 100 years experience training, mentoring, coaching and consulting to businesses and entrepreneurs.

To women in business in particular, the ROCeteer team offers a unique perspective with three women in executive positions that understand needs and coach the client to fulfilment through balance. I asked Wilde, ROCeteer’s Chief Technology Officer, also known as the “Unicorn Whisperer” about her role and her advice for women in technology. Wilde implements the technological vision for the company and assists companies and ecosystems to navigate the technological galaxy, designing anything the client requires to help move their tech vision forward, which according to Wilde, could include enlightening clients on the mundane such as, “why you would want a sign-up button in the middle of your webpage.”

Women are “afraid to fail in front of other people. Some women desire a comforting, welcoming environment.” Successful people get right back up when they are shot down. If you need to be in a nurturing environment, find a team of people to support and nurture you.

“I think that you should find mentors as early as possible.” Wilde said. “One of the problem that people have is that they don’t get mentors at an early age…another problem is that women tend to only seek out female mentors.” In the tech industry, Wilde explained, seeking only female mentors eliminates about 85% of the available mentors. She advocates for women to seek multiple mentors from both genders. If you seek only female mentors, “you are missing half the picture.” Additionally, Wilde adds that a woman need not seek only mentors within her own profession. A Realtor might choose a chef as her mentor if they click and share similar interests, then that chef’s similar life experiences make them a good mentor.

Wilde’s knack for uncovering the emotions that drive an entrepreneur’s business concept earned her the title “unicorn whisperer.” One of her special strengths lies in asking the right questions to uncover the goals that some entrepreneurs have a difficult time uncovering and sharing. She moves “stuck” entrepreneurs forward. Wilde put me through the paces with a fictitious business I created to host writing retreats.

She began “Do you really like nature? Would you host your retreats in a natural setting or in a hotel? In this natural setting, can you take me to this space, this uncluttered, natural setting?” I described a cabin in which to write.

“How do you feel when you are alone in your cabin?” As I described the setting and the feelings achieved in that setting, Wilde defined what I was really saying, “When you are thinking about this writing retreat, the emotions you are trying to convey are peace and clear-headedness.” What I really was selling were not cabins to write in, but a feeling of peace and a mental space in which to wordsmith. Getting to the base emotion of the concept widens the audience base. It’s great to find a niche market, but you make your money off the mass scale.

Over in marketing, CMO Kimberly Guiry hails from a background in hospitality and as a small business entrepreneur. In addition to her marketing role for ROCeteer, she is Happiness Astronaut assisting entrepreneur clients to find their happy space for balance between the work they love and the things they love to do.

Guiry asks her coaching clients directly, “What are you worth?” Your value depends upon where you are at that moment in your life. The job that made sense five years ago might not make sense now. You cannot effectively market yourself, your product, if you don’t know its value. It takes just as much energy to feel happy as it does to feel bad.

Guiry cuts to the chase saying, “society tells us (women) to be grateful.” That mentality evokes guilt and complacence and causes many women to forget to be happy in their careers because they are too busy being “grateful” for having one. During her interactions with clients, Guiry excels at re-training their thought processes by posing questions such as, “If I was your best friend, what would you tell me?” and “Why can’t you be your own best friend?” Guiry’s questions, designed to bring honest answers, work with anyone from individual entrepreneurs to small start-ups to government to entire ecosystems.

Guiry said, “The state of the human is as important as the state of the company.” To attain balance, she encourages clients to ask themselves—“What is something that you truly enjoy doing?” and “When is the last time you remember doing it?” or “When was the last time you had a day off?”She reminds clients that they have a choice. “We were not born with electronics in our hands. We were not born with an internet address. We are not born connected to a financial statement. We are people, beings, and if we take care of our beings, then we will be better in other areas.”

Do a daily check in with yourself. Step back. Take a moment. Guiry loves the quiet time for 60-90 minutes that yoga encourages. She notes the best gift a woman can give to herself is “time” for herself. Give yourself an extra 30 minutes a day to do something you love such as yoga, bicycling or reading.

 Fast Tips to Rocket to Success

• • • Seek mentors early
    • Seek a mix of male and female mentors
    • Mentors should come from many industries, related and unrelated to your own
    • Give yourself 30 minutes at least of “me” time each day
    • The best brand you have is yourself
    • Find your passion and share your joy
    • Remember you’re a being and worth more than the sum of your cellphone, email or financial statement

Midlife crisis only occurs when you spent the first half of your life doing something that you hated. ROCeteer can help keep your internal compass moving in the right direction. When you find yourself in need of a Unicorn Whisperer or Happiness Astronaut, you will find them at hq@roceteer.com